The present invention relates to an improved watertight ski boot comprising a shell with overlapping flaps and in which watertightness is improved.
The problem of reducing the infiltration of water in the ski boots during sports practice is strongly felt: in the ski boot shells, the overlap of the flaps in fact does not eliminate the possibility of water infiltrations inside the boot.
The flaps are in fact made of relatively rigid material, and during use undergo mutual sliding movements that lead to the forming of small openings, especially along the edges of the flaps.
As a partial solution to these drawbacks it is known to apply a rubber or plastic block, especially at the transverse edges of the flaps, which has the purpose of creating a mechanical obstacle against the flow of water from the toe to the flaps during sports practice.
Watertight sealing devices are also known which are constituted by two separate inserts applied separately on different edges of the flaps of the shell; one of the two inserts is arranged at a longitudinal edge of a flap.
The second insert is in turn constituted by two parts: one is inserted at the transverse edges of the flaps of the shell, whereas the other one is associated transversely to the first one toward the toe of the ski boot.
Even this known solution, illustrated in Italian patent no. 1,039,942 filed on 18 July 1975, has drawbacks: first of all there are three components which must be partially assembled to one another and to the shell, and secondly the interaction of all these components with one another and with the flaps still does not ensure optimum watertightness between them.
In any case, all these solutions have the additional drawback of allowing considerable water infiltration once the shell closing levers have been disengaged, for example to allow the skier to walk.
In such conditions, the flaps no longer interact with one another, thus forming wide gaps for water infiltration.